


Joining Is Inevitable

by Isaac_Not_Newton



Series: Pre-game and Post-game [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2, Super Dangan Ronpa 2.5
Genre: Abusive Parents, Angst, Bullied Oma Kokichi, Bully! Momota Kaito, Cute, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Game Momota Kaito, Pre-Game Oma Kokichi, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3), Pre-Game Saihara Shuichi, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, no there aren't anymore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 17:43:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20728226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isaac_Not_Newton/pseuds/Isaac_Not_Newton
Summary: //Spoilers for the end of Danganronpa, kind of.Kokichi can’t bear the thought of losing Shuichi.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you see any mistakes, please alert me.  
Feedback is appreciated.  
If this triggers you please don't read. Please also check the tags, thank you.  
Like usual, I did not beta this but more importantly, I hope you can enjoy this story.

“See you later Ouma-kun, I’m going to go home and watch Danganronpa!” Shuichi was practically salivating at the idea of watching the newest episode. It had been released just this morning and Shuichi guesser that it should be halfway done, it wouldn’t be long until they’d audition for new members again.

“A-Alright,” Kokichi stuttered, shyly waving as he watched the other male get up and leave. He liked Shuichi’s passion for Danganronpa and to be honest, he had gotten into the show only because of his friend. Kokichi didn’t have any friends except for Shuichi. It had been lonely before he had met him but it hadn’t been unbearable. Nowadays he felt like if Shuichi were to leave him, that he’d crumble and cease to exist. He knew that life didn’t work like that but he really felt like it could be possible. 

He shook as he also got up. He winced as he did, thankful that everyone had already left the classroom. Nobody would be there to see just how pathetic he was. He let out a small whimper when he picked up his bag, ribs aching. He would do anything to prevent the Danganronpa otaku from figuring out how weak Kokichi actually was and especially just how much the small boy suffered. He did his best to walk to the back of the school although he’d rather call it wobbling than walking. His entire body hurt, welts from the belt his father liked to use, bruises from his bullies where they liked to kick and punch him. Kokichi had been glad he’d made it alive in time to meet Shuichi but nowadays he wasn’t too sure about it anymore.

“Hello, weakling,” the voice made Kokichi’s one shake in fear. He hated how weak he was but he couldn’t help it. It reminded him of the Pavlovian experiment, it was like he was conditioned to react to Momota’s voice. It scared him how his body reacted to the other boy’s voice. Panic would flow through him and he’d be trembling whether he tried to control himself or not.

“Mo...Momota-chan,” Kokichi grit out. He’d learned from experience that if he didn’t acknowledge Kaito than he’d suffer the consequences of it. Was it 2 or was it 3 cracked ribs he had suffered through? It didn’t matter anymore. The sooner he and his goons were done, the sooner Kokichi would get to go home and gush about Danganronpa with Shuichi. A tiny tired smile made its way onto his face before he could help it and that pissed Kaito off.

“You dare smirk at us? You’ve sure got guts,” one of his goons said for Momota. Kokichi had never seen Kaito as livid as he was today. Kokichi had lost the ability to cry in front of Kaito a while ago. He’d always cry when he was alone, the last time he had come close to crying in front of Kaito was when he had begged for his life. Kaito had set nose at a weird angle and he had a cracked rib. That had been bad, he couldn’t hide it from Shuichi and he finally had decided to lie and say that he’d fallen down a flight of stairs. 

He remembered Shuichi’s concerned and doubting look and still couldn’t believe just how nice Shuichi had been to even pay him attention. Kokichi was weak, he didn’t deserve to be told such niceties. The first kick came straight for his knee. He yelped out and doubled over in pain but he didn’t have time to even catch his breath. Already, someone had delivered a series of kicks to his stomach. He felt like his guts were trying to wiggle out of his body, a disturbing mental image that kept him sane while the other relieved their anger onto him. He wondered if Shuichi would still be nice to him after he discovered the bullying he went through or if Shuichi would abandon him. He tried to get the thought out of his head but couldn’t. It scared him more than he’d like to admit, the thought that Shuichi would leave him alone to the cruel world made his guts twist more than Kaito’s hard blows currently were. 

“Momo, he’s no longer responding anymore,” the blows stopped. He felt like his nose was bleeding but he wasn’t all that certain anymore. He hoped that Kaito would leave him alone for once. It was too good to become a reality.

“Then how about we play a new game?” Kaito smiled and the glint of something metallic caught Kokichi’s attention. He cowered away as quickly as he could from Kaito and his knife. It was hard to move away from his bullies with how hurt he was. He was beyond terrified, Kaito had never tried to use a blade on him before. It wasn’t like Kokichi didn’t have any experience with them, his thighs were probably bleeding at the moment but he couldn’t care less. He had to get away from Kaito as quick as possible.

“Hey, don’t shy away from me, Kimchi. Hey, I said don’t you dare move you weak-ass little brat,” Kaito took a few strides and planted his feet firmly into Kokichi’s stomach. Kokichi shrieked in pain, he couldn’t remember just how many times his stomach had been kicked in the past few weeks but this was too much. 

“Please! Please don’t do this! I can’t! I can’t!” Kokichi screamed at the top of his lungs but he knew that it was futile. Nobody was at school anymore at this hour and the school was kind of secluded so it wouldn’t really matter whether or not somebody would pass. Nobody would be there to help him. He tried to protect his head with his hands but Kaito pried his fingers off as easily as if he hadn’t even tried to protect himself. Kaito smirked as Kokichi repeated no like a mantra. He was shaking so hard that he felt like his soul could probably be shaken out of his body.

“This is how much I hate you,” Kaito smirked and brought the blade close to Kokichi’s left eye. He was yelling now but he wasn’t moving anymore, scared that any false movement would send his eyeball to blindness. Searing pain coursed through his body as he thought that. 

“Please, Momota-chan! I’ll give you all my money, anything! Anything at all please!” Kokichi made one last attempt that ended up being fruitless. There was no guilt on Kaito’s face. None at all and that scared Kokichi more than anything.

“Time to get ready for my role in Danganronpa!” The crazy look in Kaito’s eyes as he went straight for Kokichi’s eyeball had Kokichi’s reflexes kick in. He managed to avoid the knife from stabbing his eye but he hadn’t realized that Kaito would actually lie about being so harmless. He watched as Kaito’s expression changed to one of fear as the knife sliced Kokichi’s cheek. The worried expression that steeled itself on Kaito’s face as Kokichi screamed would have been priceless under any other condition.

“Ha...ha…” Kokichi finally calmed down, only to realize the wound was not as deep as he had thought it was. It had sliced his cheek pretty bad and he could feel blood gush down his face but it hadn’t hit any nerves. At least he hoped it hadn’t. His face contorted into a disbelieving smile that proved him right. No nerve had been severed.

“Oi, Momota, is it me or is the back of his collar soaked in blood?” One of Momota’s followers asked, suddenly concerned.

Indeed, in his struggle, he had opened a multitude of wounds that had closed a while ago. He almost couldn’t feel the pain anymore from how worried he was. Kaito and another guy approached and without a hint of concern for Kokichi’s rights, they stripped off his shirt. The look that plastered itself onto his bullies face was one of disgust. Scars from years of abuse had been exposed without his consent. He screeched at the others to get away from him. It seemed that he was so convincing that Kaito grit his teeth and told his followers to leave. Kokichi wanted to sigh of relief but it felt like just breathing was taking all of his strength.

“Who’s there?” A familiar voice asked. Kokichi scrambled away as quickly as he could from where he was sitting and aimed for his school uniform. He couldn’t reach it and feel forward, straight onto his hurt front. He let out a squeak that he couldn’t repress and tried to keep as still as possible. If he didn’t move then maybe Shuichi wouldn’t recognize him and leave him. He couldn’t let the other know, it was out of the question. Be kept repeating the thought in his head as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. They were tentative as if scared of whatever they would see. Kokichi almost wanted to roar so that Shuichi would get scared but that didn’t happen. Not with how badly injured he was. Every time he breathed, an unsuppressed wimped would filter through. 

“I asked who’s there?” Shuichi had rounded the corner and the questions suddenly popped into Kokichi’s head. What was Shuichi even doing at school? He was supposed to be home while enjoying life and instead he was at school. Kokichi didn’t dare answer and didn’t even notice that Shuichi was right on top of him. He had zoned out so much that the first few times Shuichi called out to him he didn’t answer.

“Wait, Kokichi?” Shuichi yelled and squatted down. He watched the fanboy took out his phone and Kokichi smiled. If Shuichi could take a video or picture of him he might get into Danganronpa. Kokichi didn’t like the thought particularly much but Shuichi was his reason to live so he’d accept it. Instead, Shuichi opened the flashlight and yelped in horror at the state Kokichi was in. He was scanning over Kokichi’s body and kept wincing at the sad state his body was in.

“H-Hey… Sai-Ahhh! Don’t poke me!” Kokichi managed to scream out. He was so tired and just wasn’t Shuichi to leave him alone.

“Sorry, that was an accident. I didn’t mean to hurt you, why didn’t you tell me?” Shuichi’s voice had gone from concern to anger which surprised Kokichi.

“No, you’re supposed to tell me that you never want to see such a weak bastard like me,” Kokichi said, totally unaware of just how concerned Shuichi was for him at the moment.

“Did you hit your head?” Shuichi asked, his phone’s flashlight function blinded poor Kokichi who had gotten used to the darkness of the night. He winced at the brightness which ultimately led to Shuichi turning it off.

“Those scars on your arm isn’t anything recent, why... why didn’t you tell me Kichi?” Shuichi asked, voice breaking. This wasn’t like the detective wannabe, Kokichi hadn’t thought it possible for him to show interest in anything that wasn’t related to Danganronpa.

“I’m sorry! I just… I just didn’t want you to hate me!” Kokichi said slowly, hiccuping every few words. He didn’t notice the way Shuichi’s expression saddened st the words he uttered.

“Kokichi, listen to me. I’m going to call an ambulance for you,” Shuichi said and then refuted his own statement when he saw Kokichi shake his head. “Okay, then I’ll bring you back to my house. You can’t say no to that, I’m giving you 2 choices, my home or the hospital. I’m not leaving you alone Kokichi, I knew something was wrong but I didn’t want to believe that you would keep such a huge thing from me. Trust me Kichi, I’ll be there to protect you from now on. I won’t let you suffer through this alone, I’ll do whatever I can as your friend to help you get through it,” Shuichi said, eyes full of determination.

“Shu,” Kokichi whined. “Why are you being so nice to me?” Shuichi couldn’t believe what he was hearing. 

“Did you notice that I had a crush on you? With the way you were acting I thought you knew,” Shuichi's jaw dropped. Kokichi managed to turn his head and winced as Shuichi helped him up. 

“You what?” Kokichi hacked out. Shuichi brought his hand in front of his mouth and frowned at the blood that covered part of his hand. For now, he would have to treat the other boy.

“Nevermind that, you shouldn’t be speaking right now. Just let me carry you home if it doesn’t hurt you too much,” Shuichi said. Kokichi nodded and replied with an “I had worst.” That sentence made a fury Shuichi never even knew he had in him start boiling. He wouldn’t allow anyone who hurt the boy he loved to pass unjudged and unseen by the eyes of the law. He promised he would try to do something about that and that he’d also get Kokichi to open up in his own timing. 

“Sorry, this is going to hurt,” Kokichi was already grimacing and when Shuichi brought him up, his mouth opened in a silent scream. He ended up chomping down on Shuichi’s exposed skin between his neck and his shoulder. If it hurt, Shuichi didn’t let him know that and kept mumbling praises about how well Kokichi was doing. Rocked by the familiar motion of Shuichi walking, Kokichi fell asleep. Perhaps the emotional rollercoaster he’d gone through that day also had something to do with it, but if it did, he didn’t have the time to think about it. 

The next morning, he’d wake up in an unknown room and notice that his body was so sore that he couldn’t even get up, but that is a story for another day.


	2. Goodbye Saihara-chan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi gets a nice reward for going through life.

Kokichi woke up and rejoiced at the softness that enveloped him. It was nice, the gentle rays of the sun that shone on him. How long had it been since he’d had such a nice sleep, the question lingered in his brain as he shuffled onto his side and jolted awake from the pain that suddenly coursed through him. His mouth opened into a silent scream but he knew better than to let it out. He could already hear his father’s threats spilling out at the noise he was making.

“Wait, soft?” Kokichi finally opened his eyes to an unfamiliar room. It wasn’t his that was for sure, his room didn’t get sunshine and his bed wasn’t nearly as comfortable. He shot up and fell back down from the pain. He kicked the covers further down his body and looked at his bare stomach.

He winced at the huge bluish bruise that had appeared on his stomach. The events of last time came back to his mind in a sudden. His arm, which was also incredibly sore, shot up to the side of his face where a bandage had been placed. At that moment, he finally realized where he was. He was at Shuichi’s place, something about Shuichi’s parents being extremely rich and away on a business trip crossed his mind. He had been to Shuichi’s house once before for a school project but the reason he hadn’t recognized the room was that he had only had the chance to go to the dining room and the bathroom on the first floor. 

“Shuichi?” Kokichi asked, there was no reply from the other male and he sighed in relief. A part of him kind of wanted for Shuichi to appear and comfort him but another part reasoned that Shuichi had most likely taken pity on him and on the spur of the moment had made such a disturbing choice. Kokichi had to leave, now. He couldn’t bear the thought of Shuichi kicking him out of the house, he’d much rather leave first.

He winced at every movement he made, his back hurt from various injuries, his arms were sore from kicking and most likely from the various reopened self-harm wounds he harboured. He was ugly, he noticed as he got up. Almost every inch of his tiny body was bruised and littered with wounds or scars that refused to fade. He watched the faint traces of white coloured healed lines contrast against some of the darker tones from the new blade he had gotten. They were ugly yet, they made him so happy. The freshly opened wounds were most likely harder to look at, Kokichi remembered how he had screeched at the ugliness of those self-inflicted wounds or of those cuts the belts made. His skin would be swollen, the faint red lines of the blood the wounds had previously shed would stand out against his pale marred skin. It kind of reminded Kokichi of a trench, his entire body would be the war field. It was then that he realized that his thighs were on full display.

“Wait, what?” Kokichi shrieked. He didn’t have his pants on and his wounds. He turned around and looked at his back which was in a similar state. Some of the bigger wounds had been patched up with gauze. Shuichi had taken the time out of busy schedules to patch someone as useless as himself up? No, he must have been imagining it. Shuichi, like Oma had already said, had most likely done it out of pity for their previous friendship. 

Kokichi came to the blatant realization that Shuichi knew. The detective wannabe wouldn’t be stupid enough to believe the lies that Kokichi would’ve tried to fed him had he not known about his hobby of self-harming. He looked around in worry, the dull ache of his body was not important and neither was the pain at the moment. He had to leave the house right now. He ran to the window and realized that even if he ran, he wouldn't know where to go. He didn’t exactly know the layout of the house, to begin with. He turned back around and with a startled cry, almost fell over. Shuichi was standing at the door. It wouldn’t do any good to run away now. He couldn’t jump out the window unless he wanted to die, which didn’t sound too bad at the moment but he had something he still needed to do. He could escape by the door since Shuichi was blocking the way.

“Shui… Saihara-san, I thank you very much for taking such good care of me. I will excuse myself and stop bothering you… please don’t hate me,” Kokichi muttered the last part to himself. His attention was focused on his feet, he couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t lift up his head and risk seeing the horrifying look Shuichi would wield.

“Kokichi? What’s with the sudden change of honorifics and why my last name again?” Shuichi asked. He walked into the room, giving Kokichi a chance to escape, but he wouldn’t. That would be disrespectful and he wasn’t anything like his father. However, he refused to look up even when he could see the other boy’s socks now. Shuichi didn’t touch him and he was kind of glad. He felt like any contact with the other would make him flinch.

“You can tell me the truth now,” the smaller boy mumbled, loud enough for Shuichi to hear. Said boy was confused because he had no clue what the truth the purple-haired boy wanted to hear from him was.

“Do you remember what happened last night?” Shuichi asked, deflecting Kokichi’s question. The smaller boy frowned but didn’t say anything about his ignored question. It was kind of frustrating but he got it. Shuichi had probably gotten Kaito’s version of the story and now wanted his. Kaito would definitely tell Shuichi whatever he wanted to. His bully had a habit of badmouthing to everyone and anyone. He was actually kind of surprised that Shuichi had never brought it up.

“Yeah, I got beaten up and you threatened to either send me to the hospital or bring me back home,” Ouma replied. He didn’t look angry as he said it but he made sure that his toen was slightly accusatory. To be honest, he’d much rather be in Shuichi’s room than his own at the moment because of what would be waiting for him. Shuichi had the gall to look a bit embarrassed and cleared his throat before apologizing. 

“I didn’t mean to give you an ultimatum but I didn’t want you to die either. Well, you probably wouldn’t have died anyway but still, it scared me,” Shuichi replied and his answer did make sense to the small boy. He knew that deep inside he was very grateful for Shuichi but at the same time he kind of wanted to punch the detective. Had he died yesterday, it would’ve been the end of his life and he wouldn’t have to suffer through everything anymore. That was another ending that could’ve worked out in Ouma’s favour. 

“Scared you? Don’t you mean that you thought it would be pitiful to leave a so-called friend alone in the dark? I know you thought I was pitiful because there’s no way you would’ve helped me otherwise. I wouldn’t deserve it,” Kokichi said and he sharply inhaled. The pain was dull right now, he felt like everything was dull to him at the moment. He could feel his eyes heat up and the familiar welling up of tears in his eyes. He wasn’t going to cry, no way was he going to break down in front of someone he knew didn’t care about him in the least.

“Kokichi, do you really think that if I didn’t care about you that I’d carry you all the way to my home? My home is 45 minutes of walking and with you on my back, it must’ve been around an hour and a half. Kokichi, I gave you an ultimatum, I bandaged you up and Ì didn’t kick you out because I care. I know that you must be thinking that I took pity on you but the truth isn’t like that. I care about you and always have, to me, you’re more important than you think. You mean a lot to me and I was surprised that you didn’t figure it out,” Shuichi said. Pure truth, Kokichi knew when Shuichi was lying and this wasn’t one.

Kokichi fell to his knees, surprising Shuichi. He didn’t care if they bruised over at that point, not with that revelation. Shuichi actually cared about him, it wasn’t just pity. What if Momota had teamed up with Shuichi and this was all one big fat joke? Would he still allow Shuichi to come closer to him and talk to him like this? He couldn’t hear Shuichi speaking, the only thing he could concentrate on was the ceiling. It was the same colour and texture as the one at home. He wondered how pissed off his father was at the moment and giggled. Shit, he was so dead, there was no way his father would forgive him now. 

“K...Chi?” It was muddled, the sound was familiar but he didn’t care anymore. Whatever happened now would all be over tonight. He could do anything, say anything and it would all end the second he stepped back home. His father was going to kill him, he did not doubt that. He could feel arms wrapped around him and a vague alarm went off in his head. Oh yeah, he was with Shuichi, wasn’t he? He wondered if Shuichi was going to say April fool or something. He sure hoped he would.

Because Kokichi couldn’t stand the thought of having hope.

“Ko...ichi?” Shuichi’s voice was dripping with concern. That made Kokichi smile, was he dead or something? Someone was showing concern to him and he liked it a lot. When had the last time he’d gotten such attention been? When his mother was still there? From his teachers when they’d learned his mother had run away? From his father when he’d thought Kokichi was his mother? He didn’t remember anymore.

“Say, are you okay?” Kokichi asked Shuichi. The roles were reversed and he knew that. Shuichi was the one who was supposed to ask that question but right now, he couldn’t care less. He wanted to shower Shuichi with concern too. He wanted Shuichi to see that if this was all a big joke that he should stop right here. He was broken, Kokichi was broken beyond repair and at the moment, he didn’t need to be fixed. He didn’t need pity, he didn’t need love or any of those stupid emotions that made tears flow down his face.

“What?” He watched the wannabe detective’s face twist into one of confusion. Kokichi smiled, Shuichi would be creeped out now. He would reveal everything and then Kokichi could go home and die in peace. He was fine with it now, he didn’t care anymore about life. He loved Shuichi and would’ve lived for him but now he didn’t want to. He was so close to death, his goal didn’t matter anymore. Danganronpa would never accept a broken boy like him anymore.

“Kokichi, are you feeling better now? I don’t remember you having a head wound, are you okay?” Shuichi was still concerned and this was not going as planned. 

“Yeah, sorry about that. Say Shuichi, why are you still being so nice to me?” Kokichi asked, his tears wouldn’t stop no matter how hard he rubbed his eyes. He could even feel that his snot had started dripping down his nose and he was disgusting. Why was Shuichi being so nice to him? Shuichi got up and left him which didn’t surprise Kokichi. Any time now, he singsonged painfully in his own mind. 

He looked up with his teary eyes, his sight was blurry but he didn’t care. He could see the dark colour of Shuichi’s usual outfit even if he couldn’t see him. The form knelt down in front of him and handed him a tissue. With a shaky hand, he reached out to grab the tissue but missed his mark. He didn’t get the chance to try a second time as Shuichi kindly wiped away his snot and told him to blow his nose. With another tissue, Shuichi wiped away his tears even as a fresh wave of tears fell down. It took him around 5 minutes to calm down and when he did, he was ashamed of himself.

“Kokichi, we’re going out,” Shuichi suddenly said. Kokichi did not object, he felt like he was trapped inside the house. A shiver racked his body as Shuichi gently helped him get up. Shuichi was looking at him in a way that made him want to shiver. It was like he was the other’s whole world or something sappy like that. He nodded without asking where they were going. 

Shuichi brought him a change of clothing, whispering words of sweetness into Kokichi’s hair as he helped the weakened boy change into clothes that fit his size. Shuichi explained to him that Shuichi had noticed that his pants were sticking to his legs so he had removed his pants as best as he could without reopening any wounds. Apparently some of his blood had coagulated into his pants and had made the task difficult. Shuichi had ended up taking them off and had encountered the same problem with his shirt. After he was done taking off his clothes and patching him up, he’d taken his shirt and pants to the washer but the bloodstains wouldn’t come off so Shuichi ended up bringing him a spare uniform from his youth that fit Kokichi perfectly.

“Hey, if you ever want to talk to me, I’ll always be there for you,” Shuichi smiled kindly at him when he had finished. Kokichi refrained from calling him a liar and instead thanked him. He really did mean it too but he knew that if Shuichi was accepted into Danganronpa and he wasn’t that he’d be alone again.

“Come with me,” Shuichi said. Kokichi didn’t even understand why he was so clingy towards Shuichi. Actually, he was very clear with the reason why but he didn’t want to make himself seem so weak. Kokichi followed Shuichi obediently out of the room. He watched as the black-haired boy grabbed his school bag and smiled at him.

“Where are we going?” Kokichi finally asked. The bag made him feel like he was underprepared for whatever was to come. Shuichi was still smiling as he shook his head and gestured at him to leave the house. Kokichi went outside and inhaled gratefully. Shuichi’s front yard with huge and he loved the big trees on the side of the main path. Shuichi caught up with him as he followed the path and he was kind of glad that Shuichi wasn’t saying anything that would put pressure on him. It was nice and relaxing with him by his side.

“Kokichi, the car is waiting over there,” Shuichi said as Kokichi deviated from the path to follow a squirrel. His eyebrow quirked up at the mention of a driver but didn’t say anything. It was an expensive car that was the one thing Kokichi had time to notice before Shuichi kindly helped him into the car. It hurt and he was well aware of that but the sight from inside the car was amazing. The windows were tinted and that made Kokichi smile, that window reminded him of everything that had happened to him.

“Why me?” Kokichi suddenly asked, startling Shuichi.

“Why you?” Shuichi asked Kokichi so that he could elaborate his question. 

“Why did you even choose me to be your friend at the start of the year?” Kokichi asked, still staring out of the window. The car had started moving to who knows where and Kokichi was captivated by the defiling scenery. 

“Because you reminded me of my past self. You were quiet and shy but you always looked like you had something that no one else could have,” Shuichi replied vaguely. It confused the smaller male, something that no one else could have?

“Basically, it means that you were interesting and kind of mysterious and I felt like being friends with you would be great. I wasn’t wrong, you showed me what friendship could be like. Up until then, I had always been alone. I was too much of a Danganronpa fanboy for anyone to stay with but then I met you. You would always listen to me ramble about my favourite characters and-” Shuichi had already started to look a bit out of it just at the mention of Danganronpa and that made Kokichi chuckle lightly. There was the Shuichi he knew, the one who had devoted himself to Danganronpa, Kokichi was pretty sure Shuichi owned more than half of the Danganronpa franchise’s merchandise. It was costly but he guessed it wasn’t a problem from Shuichi.

“Sir, we have arrived at our destination,” the driver who had remained silent until then made his presence known.

“Thank you, I will see you at 8 pm,” Shuichi said, got out of the car and nodded at the driver after Kokichi had also gotten out.

“Wait! Isn’t this the fan-signing event where only the first 100 people who commented on the new episode of Danganronpa can go to?” Kokichi squeaked out. He couldn’t believe it, he could meet Komaeda Nagito, one of his favourite characters from Danaganronpa! He was suddenly hyped forgetting about all the thought that tormented him constantly.

“Yes it is, I was planning to tell you the news yesterday but I realized I forgot to tell you and came back to get you but then I stumbled upon that,” Shuichi said. He was being careful which made Kokichi grimace, he wasn’t fragile he could live with the thought that he was getting bullied. It didn’t matter all that much to him anymore. Shuichi now knew just how horrifying of a person he was, yet he seemed to still want to be his friend. It made him smile a bit that in the end, Shuichi was just trying to look out for him.

“Thank you… I’m serious, I feel like had you not done all this for me yesterday night, I might’ve actually did something stupid,” Kokichi said. He didn’t mention what the something stupid was but he could tell Shuichi knew by the sad eyes Shuichi showed him.

“Kokichi, please… If you ever want to tell me about something, please do. I will wait as long as you need but I hope that I’ve proven myself trustworthy enough,” Shuichi’s gaze fell onto his shoes as they walked into the building.

“Don’t worry Shu, I trust you,” Kokichi smiled. The cut on his cheek caused the smile to be a bit lopsided but Shuichi didn’t mind. He was in awe at how adorable the other one was when he smiled. Shuichi hadn’t known that he was capable of that but now that he did, he intended to make Ouma smile like that more often.

“Hello,” Ouma froze at the sight of the white-haired male. He was every bit as cool as he looked on the Danganronpa show. He was standing in front of the great Komaeda Nagito and he realized his mistake then. He had nothing for him to sign. Next to Komaeda, sat Hinata Hajime who noticed his distress. He leaned closer to Nagito to mumbled something to which the white-haired male nodded.

“What’s your name?” Nagito asked him with a kind smile. Kokichi stood there flabbergasted from meeting his favourite personality,

“Hey, it’s okay,” Shuichi smiled and gave him a book. He automatically approached his idol and handed him the book. When Nagito took it, he saw the cover and almost cried right there and then in front of his idol. It was Nagito Komaeda’s first edition photo album. He turned to look at Shuichi who just smiled at him and gestured at him to speak. Kokichi turned back around, face flushing from embarrassment as he introduced himself.

“Uhm my name is XXX XXX, but would it be possible to write your message to Ouma Kokichi? Uhhhh! I want to join team Danganronpa and become the Ultimate Supreme Leader!” Kokichi rambled out and watched as Nagito smile at him and started writing.

“Do you want a quote with that, Ouma-kun?” Komaeda asked him and grinned as the small boy nodded his head fervently. Meanwhile, Hajime frowned at the wincing the boy made every time he moved but didn’t comment on it. It was more like he couldn’t. From the moment he’d been accepted, he had been listed as Danganronpa’s property so he let it drop.

“It’s a given that trials are necessary to become strong, and the harsher the trial, the stronger you become, no?” Nagito said as he wrote it down. Next, to his quote, he wrote a long message that Kokichi didn’t get the chance to read before the notebook was handed back to him.

“Thank you for visiting me and don’t forget to go get everyone else’s signature! Ouma-kun, don’t give up the hope that resides inside of you,” Nagito smiled at him in a foreshadowing manner. Kokichi nodded, too surprised to do anything else. Just as Shuichi came to get him, he yelled at Nagito to thank him. Shuichi had gotten all the signature he wanted and so did Kokichi before they left. Kokichi felt like he was floating on cloud 9. 

He had spent a tiring morning that ended up in a fun evening. He enjoyed the presence of the boy next to him and kept rambling on the notebook with Nagito’s signature and a message inside. He didn’t dare to open it, he was a bit scared of what Nagito had written but he was also incredibly curious. He wanted to know desperately and told himself he’d only check it after the auditions in case he was feeling down. 

“Our next destination is the TeruTeru restaurant,” Shuichi said as he led him to it.

“But before, thank you so much! I didn’t know you had the limited edition of Nagito’s first fan album! I could never repay you enough! Please, tell me what I could do to pay you back,” Kokichi said.

“You don’t have to consider it a gift for all the times you’ve listened to me trail off about Danganronpa,” Shuichi smiled at him warmly. The TeruTeru restaurant was opened as a tribute for the actual Teruteru from Danganronpa. It was a small and homely restaurant. Shuichi had reserved a table next to the window. The view of the bustling city never ceased to amaze Kokichi, it usually seemed too much darker to him, the faces of the people who were walking around on the street but today, they seemed a lot happier. Maybe it was just himself but he could’ve sworn people looked much happier.

Shuichi got him a grape soda and Kokichi ordered something the waitress recommended. Shuichi ended up ordering something that wasn’t on the menu but still available for some reason. He would comprehend later that Shuichi had influence almost everywhere and that it would be stupid for business’ who were small to ignore a request coming from him. For the moment, however, he was just enjoying staying with his friend. The day ended up with a quiet walk around the nearby park where a statue of Sakura Ogami was carved. It was amazing how much Danganronpa shaped the world, the benches were an elongated version of the chair Sakura had sat on during her death. Kokichi admired the park and fed the swans with Shuichi. All in all, for the first time in forever, Kokichi had managed to pass the day without ever thinking about those dark thoughts that liked to swirl around in his mind.

“Shall I send you home?” Shuichi asked as they got onto the car and that shattered the good mood they had going. Kokichi curled onto himself, bringing his legs closer to his torso as he shook his head. He didn’t register the worried tone Shuichi used as he asked a question and even less registered what the boy had said. He didn’t want to go home, he didn’t want to be reminded of how bad his life was. The dull ache of his current position grounded him.

“If you don’t want to go home that's fine too! You could just stay at mine,” Shuichi had noticed the disturbing behaviour Kokichi showed. He gently pried off Kokichi’s hands from where they were tearing at his hair. Said boy couldn't relax, not when they were going straight to his house. The thing is Shuichi and he lived very close to each other with the only difference being that Shuichi had money while Kokichi didn’t. He inhaled sharply and tried catching his breath but he wasn’t doing a good job. He was breathing hard like his lungs just couldn’t expand anymore. 

“I don’t want to go home, please,” Kokichi was shaking. He couldn’t stand it the thought of going back home to where his father was. 

“Then let’s sleep at mine how about that?” Shuichi asked, his hand was on Ouma’s shoulder. The boy sighed in relief, the instant of fear was gone. He trusted Shuichi more so than he’d like to admit.

“Do you want to go home to get anything?” Shuichi asked, his voice was so concerned that it made Kokichi feel guilty for making such a kind person take care of him and worry about him. He didn’t deserve Shuichi.

“It’s more like I don’t deserve you,” Shuichi replied, apparently, Ouma had said that out loud. Kokichi flushed and looked out the window. He was grateful for Shuichi who was treating him like normal. The fanboy rarely showed any interest in anything that wasn’t Danganronpa.

“Say, Shu,” Kokichi said, turning back around to look at him.

“Yes?” Shuichi asked he was looking at him with a serious expression.

“Let’s make a promise,” Kokichi said, taking out his pinky finger. Shuichi looked at him and that made Kokichi worry. What if Shuichi found him childish? Shuichi laced his pinky finger with Ouma’s and smiled.

“How about we make it a double promise?” Shuichi asked and Ouma nodded.

“Hmmm, promise you won’t cut yourself again, okay? I know it’s not easy to stop something like that so suddenly but whenever you need my help, I’ll be there,” Shuichi sounded a bit panicky by the end of his sentence.

“Alright, then you have to promise to stay with me until the end of time,” Kokichi muttered childishly... Whether it was to humour him or just because he actually wanted to, Shuichi sang the song that came after. Kokichi remembers watching as their hands moved up and down in sync with the song. His first promise made to someone that wasn’t his mother. He was improving slowly he gathered.

The rest of the evening went by quickly. By the time they got to Shuichi’s place, it was 8:30. Shuichi and he had watched TV quietly together until it was 10 pm. Shuichi wished him goodnight and showed him to Kokichi’s new room before going back to his own. Kokichi had been right, he had slept in Shuichi’s bedroom in the morning and to be honest, he was kind of happy that his friend had given him another room. He didn’t want to feel all those intense emotions he was sure he would feel again if he went back into that room.

The next day, Shuichi had brought him to a cafe near Shuichi’s house. Kokichi had ordered a carbonated drink while Shuichi had ordered a tea. Every day that passed, Shuichi was getting ready to be a detective but Kokichi was sure that he would accept any role he was given by the Danganronpa team and to be honest, so would he.

“Will you join Danganronpa with me?” Shuichi asked, surprising Kokichi. The small boy hadn’t told the taller boy that he would apply for a position in the new season in Danganronpa.

“Didn’t you say that you’d ask that question only to the person you loved?” Kokichi asked, sipping his carbonated drink.

“Well you’re my friend and I love you very much. I’d very much like to make you my boyfriend but that would be unreasonable since in 2 days there would be a chance that one of us or maybe both of us will get chosen,” Shuichi said. He watched as Kokichi almost spit out his drink as his face turned red.

“I… I would have to decline for the same reason,” Kokichi sputtered out.

“You still haven’t answered,” Shuichi smiled.

“I’ll participate with you!” Kokichi yelled, making eyes turn.

He remembered that 2 days later, the auditions were passed. He also remembered the confusion when he’d first gotten to the gym and for the last time, he hugged Shuichi before they lost their memories. He thought about all that as Kaito walked over to the control panel. The hydraulic press was lowering itself onto him and he felt tears drip down the side of his face. He was a dead man walking and he still had the time to cry?

“WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME? And why did you not keep your promise,” Kokichi screamed and whispered one last time as Kaito cut the cord. His scream of anger was suppressed by the loud sound that the press was making. He wondered, what was it that Komaeda had written on his notebook and at the same time, he also wondered, had he tried hard enough, would he have stopped being the weak boy he was up until the very end?

**Author's Note:**

> //I could write a part 2 but I feel like this story might be better with just one part. I have planned a part 2 but I don’t know if it’s necessary. If you feel like you’d like a part 2, I could write one so let me know if you want one! Thank you for reading!  
This first part is now irrelevant. Thank you to those who left me comment to write a part 2! I hope you can enjoy it.  
P.S:  
If you have any requests or prompts you'd like for me to write, you can private message me on Instagram (isaac_not_newton3) or Tumblr (isaacnotnewton3). You can also reach me if you have any questions you'd like to ask me.


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